For the past seven weeks, Austen Williams has been leading a double life.
Williams, who took part in Fall Commencement on Sunday, Dec. 7,
earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, has been
juggling the life of a full-time college student with the life of a
young professional.

He has spent eight-hour days working as a regional application
engineer for Henkel Corp. in Rocky Hill, Conn., and has then come back
to his campus home to take classes, work on his senior capstone project,
and teach a physics lab.

“It’s been quite a balancing act,” said Williams.

Williams is in the enviable position of having been offered a good
job in his field weeks before graduation, thanks to his talent, drive,
and a co-op opportunity that he got through the University.
During the spring 2013 semester, Professor Cy Yavuzturk, one of Williams’s professors in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture
(CETA), asked his students if any of them would be interested in a
co-op experience at Henkel, in which they would work full-time for six
months while also receiving some college credit.

While the co-op would provide invaluable experience, it also would
mean graduating one semester late. A number of students expressed
interest in the co-op opportunity, but Williams was one of the few who
was willing to delay his graduation for one semester — a risk that
ultimately paid off.Henkel is an
international company based in Germany with leading brands and
technologies in several areas. The co-op was with Henkel’s adhesive
technologies division in Rocky Hill.
From June through December 2013, Williams worked full-time at Henkel,
performing lab tests and writing technical reports, and met regularly
with his advisor at CETA, Professor of Mechanical Engineering Robert Celmer. At the end of the six-month co-op, Williams wrote a paper about the experience.

During the summer of 2014, Williams’s former mentor at Henkel told
him about a job opening for a regional application engineer, and this
fall, Williams got the job. He has been working at Henkel two days a
week since Oct. 20, while he finishes his degree requirements and wraps
up his college career. He will start working full-time on Jan. 5.
As a regional application engineer, Williams will be working with the
sales team to determine which products best fit clients’ needs, and to
validate the application of those products through lab testing. Williams
said that his CETA coursework prepared him well for the co-op and for
his new job, by giving him the “problem-solving mentality” he needs to
be able to analyze and address engineering problems.

Williams, who plays a wide range of instruments — including guitar,
drums, piano, bass, harmonica, mandolin, and banjo — started at the
University of Hartford majoring in mechanical engineering with a
concentration in acoustics. He never considered a career as an
application engineer until his co-op with Henkel, but he has discovered
that it is a perfect fit for him.
“The co-op allowed me to see what an application engineer does. As
soon as I started, I thought ‘This is where I could see myself being
happy,’” said Williams, who enjoys working directly with customers and
coming up with solutions for their needs. “I really love it.”

Hartford needs to
nurture small entrepreneurial businesses for a bustling future

Hartford's many simmering businesses and ideas
must be encouraged

Architects
and planners like grand schemes. "Make no little plans," counseled
Chicago architect Daniel Burnham just over a century ago. But maybe today we
need to think differently about a city like Hartford, whose future might lie in
thousands of little things — creative and synergistic ideas —happening,
connecting, collaborating, sharing, shaping, building.

That
impression emerged from a lively panel discussion last week on imagining a new
Hartford, part of a series of exhibits and events at the Hartford Public
Library and the Connecticut Historical Society. The Courant's Tom Condon asked
the panel of four folks involved with creative, innovative organizations
working to change the city what Hartford will look like in 25 years.

Cities are
shaped by people and projects that can simmer for years until reaching a
boiling point, and the impression is that Hartford has an encouraging number of
pots on the stove. One is MakeHartford, headed by Steve Yanicke, who describes
the enterprise as a "gym for geeks" who like to make stuff.
MakeHartford is at 30 Arbor Street, in a space that offers folks access to
digital toys and tools like 3D printers (you can "print" objects).
Yanicke spoke about the allure of incubator space where people can meet, learn
to use new technologies and share knowledge. It's something of a free-form
collaborative, "connecting people who are doing things with other people
who are doing things," he explained.

Yanicke's
vision of the city is a place where new businesses, with very low starting
costs, attract other entrepreneurs just because innovative types feed off each
other. For Yanicke, one of Hartford's greatest assets is the empty buildings
that can become hotbeds of creative collaboration, leading to new businesses,
housing and communities. Yanicke noted that housing in downtown Hartford always
seems to grow in the wrong direction. Instead of more towers, Yanicke sees a
downtown thriving with more three- and four-story, mixed-use residential and
retail structures, where people live close to work, walk and actually meet
their neighbors.

Gina Muslim,
director of the Hartford Community Partnership, Community Solutions, sees the
former Swift gold-plating factory in Hartford's North End as similar to
Yanicke's idea of flexible incubator space. Rather than devoting Swift to one
use, Muslim imagines a place that combines work, living, health care and food
shopping within its 65,000 square feet. The idea is to create enough synergy in
one place to offer residents and the surrounding neighborhood a one-stop
community resource focused on job creation. The key, notes Muslim, is getting
the right mix of uses and anchor businesses, and then studying what worked and
what doesn't work so it can be replicated in other neighborhoods.

Food is the
critical component to successful revitalization. Cary Wheaton, executive
director of Billings Forge Community Works in Frog Hollow, sees new restaurants
and farmers markets, along with good housing, luring folks to city
neighborhoods. "Food and housing are the drivers" for community
building, says Wheaton, who noted that Billings has created about 100 jobs over
the past six years.

Echoing the
others on the panel, Wheaton cautioned against high-powered,
multimillion-dollar solutions. Sometimes a new idea is in plain sight. Like
closing cafeterias! Wheaton speculated on what would happen to the urban life
on Hartford's streets overnight if the city's major employers closed their
cafeterias and people had to leave work to have lunch. The economic driver for
new lunch places and busy streets is right there. "Small things connect
with other things, and that is sustainable community building," says
Wheaton.

Kristina
Newman-Scott, director of marketing, events and cultural affairs for the city,
thinks that Hartford's biggest problem is an inferiority complex. "We need
pride in the city," and to start taking advantage of the incredible
creative resources here. She pointed out that within its 18 square miles
Hartford has more than 300 arts and cultural institutions. "The challenge
is to connect these creative communities," says Newman-Scott, who also
sees incubator space and short-term, low-cost leases as a way to hot-wire new
retail. "Creative businesses grow out of a more do-it-yourself culture,
with the city serving as a platform," she believes.

So, what
will Hartford look like?

Michael
J. Crosbie is an architect in Essex and chairman of the University of
Hartford's Department of Architecture.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Women Thrive at the University of Hartford:Emily Meachon ’16 (and WELCorps Student Leader) and her mentor Jessica Nicklin will study the connections between birth order, leadership, and the success in college students.Katherine McLellan ’16 and faculty mentor Susan Mardinly aim to find remarkable female composers from the 1920s on to form a chronological timeline of the history of women composers and their influence in the theatre and music genre. Katherine plans to educate the audience through a final concert and slideshow. Tanya Johnson ’15 and faculty mentor Ivana Milanovic will simulate a "hole tone’" system in which information will be provided on vortex shedding, source location of acoustic waves, and noise mitigation strategies.Madison Norwich ’16 (a WELCorps Student Leader) along with her faculty mentor, Mala Matacin, will educate the University of Hartford’s campus on the current issues of sexual violence, while creating a safe environment of support for survivors. Dorothy Goodwin, educator, politician, world traveler, and family member, inspired women and girls to live beyond limitations—to exercise their full potential. She recognized that reaching one’s potential requires challenging opportunities, committed mentors, and financial support. It is in honor of her influence and with gratitude for the generosity of her friends and family that the Women’s Education and Leadership Fund (WELFund) offers the Dorothy Goodwin Scholars.www.anchoronline.org/welfund/dorthy-goodwin-academic-year-scholars

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Thirteen faculty members have been awarded Vincent B. Coffin Grants and Summer Stipends
for 2014-15. The grants and stipends are awarded to full-time faculty
for a variety of scholarly and creative projects and for activities that
enhance teaching or contribute to professional development.Vincent B. Coffin Grant Recipients– Ivana Milanovic, professor of
mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering, Technology, and
Architecture (CETA), will conduct a project that simulates a “hole tone”
system in which a circular jet exiting an upstream orifice plate
impinges on a downstream plate producing an audible tone. COMSOL and/or
ANSYS FLUENT will be used to model, analyze, and visualize the
simulation results. The objective will be to investigate vortex shedding
at the jet exit and its impact on the system.

adimer S. Nagurney, professor of electrical,
computer, and biomedical engineering in CETA, visited Chalmers
University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden for the week of June 2-6,
2014. He delivered an informal seminar, TI DSK and Software Defined Radio,
which highlighted efforts in developing joint undergraduate Digital
Signal Processing student projects with Chalmers. He also met with
faculty in the Department of Signals and Systems to discuss future
collaborations. His visit was supported by a 2013-2014 International
Center Faculty Grant.
Chalmers is one of the leading Engineering Universities in Sweden
producing about 40% of Sweden's engineering graduates. It is also the
first University to be named after a major benefactor, William Chalmers,
Director of the Swedish East India Company.Professor Nagurney at Chalmers

Ladimer S. Nagurney,
professor of electrical, computer, and biomedical engineering, CETA, was
a co-author of the invited paper, "Supply Chain Network Competition in
Time-Sensitive Markets," presented at the 18th European Conference on
Mathematics for Industry: ECMI 2014, Taormina, Sicily, on June 12, 2014.
The paper also was presented at the Conference on Optimization, Control
and Applications in the Information Age in honor of the 60th birthday
of Professor Panos M. Pardalos, Distinguished University Professor of
Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Florida, in
Chalkidiki, Greece, June 16, 2014.
The paper is based on a collaboration with Professors Anna Nagurney
of UMass Amherst, Min Yu of the University of Portland, and Jonas Floden
of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Professor Nagurney at ECMI 2014

The work is a continuation of research presented in the book, Networks Against Time: Supply Chain Analytics for Perishable Products,
that Professor Nagurney co-authored and that was published by Springer
Business + Science Media NYC in 2013. The applications of this work
include: food, medicines and vaccines, high tech products, and fast
fashion.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Last week at the Acoustical Society of America conference in
Providence, R.I., it was announced that the University of Hartford won first place in an Architectural Acoustics Student Design Competition.
The UHart team comprisedLucas Johnson '14 and Wesley Axtell '14, both seniors in the BSE Acoustical Engineering and Music program, and Rachael Kline '14, who will be graduating with a BS in Architectural Engineering Technology.

This competition is intended to encourage students to express their
knowledge of architectural acoustics and noise control in the design of a
facility in which acoustical considerations are of significant
importance. Designs are submitted as posters, and are judged by
practicing architects and acoustical engineers. All posters are judged
solely on their content and are anonymous — the names of the students
and school are placed in an envelope on the back of the poster, and are
not revealed until the winner has been selected.

There were 15 posters submitted, and nearly all of the other posters were submitted by graduate
programs in acoustics. Submissions came from not only across America,
but from Europe and Asia. In fact, the runners-up were from the graduate
acoustics programs at Chalmers (Sweden) and the University of Tokyo.Lucas Johnson is from Chatham, Illinois, and has recently accepted a position with AKRF Acoustic Consultants in New York City. Wesley Axtell is from Londonderry, N.H., and will be attending the graduate program in acoustics at Penn State University. Rachael Kline, Axtell's fiancee, will be accompanying him to State College, Pa.

Congratulations to Team Hartford!
Source: http://www.hartford.edu/daily/announcements/2014/05/2014-05-14-acoustical-engineering--architecture-seniors-win-international-design-competition.aspx

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

On Friday 05/09/14 Windham Tech students took a field trip
to view a presentation of a product that was the joint effort of the University
of Hartford Bio-Medical Engineering Program and the CTHSS Manufacturing
Technology program at Windham Tech. This prosthetic foot may benefit
civil war amputee victims in Africa. It is a great story of not only the
collaboration and learning that took place, but the humanity of the
project.

Five University of Hartford professors have been named Faculty Fellows of The Humanities Center for 2014–15: Power Boothe, Don Jones, Melinda Miceli, Patricia Mellodge, and Robert Leve.
Each fellow will be working on a scholarly or pedagogical project
related to the 2014–15 theme of the Humanities Center Seminar, “Exploring Complexity,” developed and led by Marcia Moen, associate professor of philosophy, and Jane Horvath,
associate professor of economics and Director of the van Rooy Center
for Complexity and Conflict Analysis. Each Fellow will also give a talk
as part of the Spring 2015 series of lectures associated with the theme.Power Boothe, professor of painting in the Painting
and Drawing Department of the Hartford Art School, will present two
workshops and a lecture titled “Complexity and Art-making”
that will explore complexity as it relates to perception, the arts, and
art-making. The two hands-on workshops are designed to provide
experiences that will suggest that meaning is not to be found in the
words we use, and, although meaning can be triggered by words, or a
mark, or music, meaning arrives as an emergent “felt” coherence that is
embodied and dependent on “networks” of relations between the brain, the
body and things that are exterior. The lecture will demonstrate that
the imaginative capacity we all have, and which is evident in how we
experience the arts, is based on our innate ability to make sense of a
complex range of sense experience we are bombarded with everyday—that
should overwhelm us—but instead emerges as coherent and even significant
to us. Professor Boothe says, “The two workshops and the lecture will
explore how the bottom up, non-linear nature of complexity manages
conflict by going into a turbulent phase involving experimentation and
feedback, to eventually stabilize into a new structure or form,
unpredicted by the parts. As a result, this new order will redefine the
meaning of the parts.”Don Jones, associate professor of rhetoric and
professional writing in the English Department of the College of Arts
& Sciences, will consider “Complexity and Epistemology: How Do We Know What We Think We Know?”
Dr. Jones's project will be to develop a future honors course focusing
on epistemology, pragmatism, and postmodernism. In his lecture for the
Humanities Center, he will explain Dewey’s non-foundational
epistemology, which is based on the following four principles: the
primacy of experience, the construction of knowledge, the influence of
language on knowledge, and the achievement of agency. He will compare
and contrast Dewey’s non-foundationalism with the postmodern
epistemology of Michel Foucault. Dr. Jones will explore the
epistemological implications of complexity theory, grounding these
abstract principles in engaging examples including Ezra Pound’s “In a
Station of the Metro” and Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” Like Osberg,
Biesta, and Cilliers, he believes that the epistemological implications
of complexity theory can best be explained as “Deweyan transactions”
between reality, language, and knowledge.Melinda Miceli, associate professor of sociology in Hillyer College, will analyze complexity theory as it relates to sociological theory and research,
specifically in the areas of social movements and intersectionality.
The focus of her research is the networking of localized and regional
social movement organizations into centralized, yet diverse, national
and international social movements advocating for the rights of LGBT
youth. This intricate networking process has forced these social
movements to manage the complex intersection of inequalities of
sexuality, gender, class, race, ethnicity, religion and other social
factors that make up the varied lived realities of the LGBT youth whose
interests they represent. Her fellowship will focus on the usefulness of
complexity theory in sociological analysis of both social movements and
intersectionality. Dr. Miceli’s lecture will present material on social
complexity theory and its practical application in the empirical
analysis of her research on LGBT youth social movements.Patricia Mellodge, associate professor in the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of
Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA), will examine “Emergent Behavior in Robot Systems: A Case Study of Cubelets.”
Cubelets, made by Modular Robotics, are intended to teach children
about complex systems and robotics in a way that is physically grounded
instead of virtual. Rather than being screen-based as many other
demonstration systems are (such as Conway’s Game of Life or NetLogo
software), a user can physically touch, interact, and reconfigure the
system quickly and easily. New system designs are rapidly implemented
simply by altering the interconnections between the blocks. However, the
system also allows for more depth and exploration. More advanced users
can modify the programming in the different blocks to redefine the rules
that they follow. Dr. Mellodge’s seminar talk will focus on Cubelets
and the use of emergent behavior in robotic system design. The behavior
of systems composed of Cubelets will be investigated through
demonstrations and compared to traditionally programmed robots.Robert Leve, associate professor of psychology in the College of Arts & Sciences, focuses his research on tests of complexity models in real world situations
to understand the process of how multi-dimensional complex problems are
solved without falling into a state of cognitive chaos. His previous
research documents how subjects avoid intellectual chaos when given
complex problems to solve across various situations such as auto
navigation, bicycle racing, financial decisions, and real estate
problems. Testing out such problems also analyzes how variables such as
time, perceived confidence, and variable relevance influence the
decision process. His most recent unpublished research focuses on the
parameters that determine emergence and how the perspective of the
observer influences existence of emergent phenomenon such that a narrow
perspective often eliminates the recognition of emergence. Dr. Leve
seeks to understand the process by which a particular variable interacts
with other variables in that environment to reorganize the energy flows
in the environment resulting in a new and unexpected pattern (i.e.
Emergence). In his lecture for the Humanities Center Seminar, Dr. Leve
will discuss the threat of chaos as a strong determinant on how humans
solve complex social and scientific problems, illustrated by real world
examples that document the sudden emergence of significant intellectual
solutions that have had a profound influence on modern technology.
The Humanities Center Honors Seminar is a two-semester course for honors students. The Lecture Series on Complexity
in the Spring 2015 semester is open to all students, faculty, and
staff, as well as members of the community. Lectures begin at 7:30 p.m.
in the Dana 202/Mali 2 Lecture Hall, and are free and open to the
general public. The Humanities Center at the University of Hartford
supports interdisciplinary scholarship focusing on the humanities
through arts, sciences, technology, media, psychology, history, film,
philosophy, and literature. For more information, contact T. Stores, director, at stores@hartford.edu.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Three University of Hartford alumni—a top
executive at Cigna, a prolific composer for television and film, and the
director of NBC’s Meet the Press—will be honored during the University’s undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 18.Mark Boxer ‘83, who is global chief information officer for Cigna, will receive the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award
during the main, University-wide Commencement ceremony on the
University Green. The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented annually
to a University graduate who has made an exceptional impact on his/her
profession, community, and the University.

The 2014 Hartt Alumni Award will be conferred on composer Ed Alton ‘81 during The Hartt School’s diploma presentation ceremony in Lincoln Theater, immediately following the main Commencement ceremony.
In addition, Meet the Press director Rob Melick ’96, ‘98 will be recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Hillyer College during Hillyer’s diploma presentation ceremony in Millard Auditorium, immediately following the main Commencement ceremony.

Mark Boxer ‘83 — University Distinguished Alumni AwardMark Lewis Boxer ’83 is global chief information
officer at Cigna, where he is responsible for driving the company’s
worldwide technology strategy and ensuring that the company’s
infrastructure and applications are innovative, flexible, and aligned
with both the business strategy and the needs of customers, partners,
and employees.

Prior to joining Cigna, Boxer was group president for government
healthcare at Xerox Corporation. He also served as deputy global chief
information officer for Xerox, where he oversaw the development of all
software products and information services. Prior to Xerox, he served in
various leadership roles at WellPoint, Healthsource, and Hewlett
Packard.

Boxer earned both a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and a Bachelor
of Arts in physics from the University of Hartford in 1983. He earned
his Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of
Connecticut and a Master of Science in information systems from Drexel
University. He holds a doctorate in global public health from the
Arizona School of Health Sciences.
A trustee of the Bushnell Performing Arts Center, Boxer also serves
on the boards of the University of Connecticut Foundation and the
Connecticut Children’s Law Center. He oversees Cigna’s venture
innovation fund, serves as an outside director for Grange Mutual
Insurance, and is a member of the advisory boards of Health Enterprise
Partners and Parthenon Capital. Boxer has been recognized as one of Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders and by Insurance &Technology Magazine
as an Elite Eight technologist. He is a business advocate and champion
of advancing the employment of the disabled, having received both the
Tony Coelho Award, named after the coauthor of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, and the Justice for All Award, given by the American
Association of People with Disabilities.

Ed Alton ‘81 — Hartt Alumni Award

Ed Alton, BMus ’81, has had an impressive and prolific
career in the Los Angeles TV, film, and recording industries for nearly
30 years. To date, he has composed scores for more than 530 episodes of
31 different prime time network TV series and performed as bassist on
over 70 feature film soundtracks. He has received numerous honors,
including five ASCAP Top TV Composer Awards, an Emmy nomination, and
several Gold and Platinum record awards.
Some of Alton’s more prominent TV compositions include the scores for the 1980s hit series Head of the Class, the top-10 rated series Suddenly Susan, and The Single Guy,
both of which ran during the peak of NBC’s successful Thursday night
“Must See TV” reign. Recent well-known series have included My Boys on TBS and Whitney
on NBC. His music is augmented by his multi-instrumental skills, since
he personally plays many of the instruments used on his own soundtracks.
In 1998, Alton’s song performed by Bernadette Peters on the CBS series The Closer was recognized with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music & Lyrics. In 1997, Daily Variety recognized Alton as one of TV’s top theme composers when it listed him as #5 among Nielsen’s "Top '90s TV Themesters." His Single Guy theme was included on the popular Greatest TV Themes of the ‘90s CD.
Alton’s work in the recording industry includes arranging and conducting on the Britney Spears multi-Platinum CD In the Zone, and performances on the Gold Record-winning albums Flying Cowboys by Rikki Lee Jones as well as the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club.
Alton also has written scores for three musicals for the stage. As a
studio musician, Alton performed bass on the soundtracks of such popular
films as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Ghost Busters 2, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, City Slickers, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. He has also performed and toured internationally with The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Melick earned an associate’s degree from Hillyer College and went on to
earn a bachelor’s degree in communication from the College of Arts and
Sciences. While at the University of Hartford, Melick was highly
motivated to get as much television experience as possible. He immersed
himself in the Student Television Network, STN-2, and he had internships
at Hartford’s NBC affiliate and at the Fox Network in New York City.
Melick’s career took off from there, as he directed news broadcasts
in Rochester, N.Y., Hartford, and Philadelphia, earning a reputation for
his talent, dedication, and tireless work ethic. His stellar reputation
and his network of mentors helped earn Melick a spot as director of the
weekly political television show Fox News Sunday,﻿ based in
Washington, D.C. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Melick produced
shows on the road in 26 different states, and he has directed everything
from Oval Office interviews to broadcasts from Afghanistan.
Melick’s meteoric rise and his outstanding work brought him to the attention of NBC, and in 2010 he became the director of Meet The Press,
the longest-running show on network television and a venerable
institution in the worlds of public affairs, politics, and foreign
policy.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

On April 14, the University of Hartford
Architecture Department held a presentation by two graduate level
students and their findings from being part of the fellowship they won
in 2013.

Derek Zero and Bartek Pociecha teamed up and put together an idea to
look at Urbanizing favelas in Brazil for the JCJ Architecture Endowment
that was started 6 years ago by a student Tai Soo Kim.

This program allows graduate students who are chosen by a panel to be
able to go to the country where their research lies and go in-depth
with it.

A presentation is required after the traveling is completed.

Zero and Bartek traveled south to Brazil for two weeks and focused
their studies primarily on the favelas that stood tall in Rio De
Janeiro.

Many of the slides also shows the difference in the way of life in
Rio by showing the price of villas versus the price of these favelas.

Their findings revealed that for a family of four, it would cost 500
American dollars to live there a month whereas a villa costs $800 a day.

The presentation presented history, demographics and numbers of people inhibiting these favelas.

After learning about these homes that middle class people build with
their own hands and local supplies, they moved on to speak about what
the next step for them was.

When speaking about ideas on re-amping the favelas, Zero and Bartek
spoke about the government and why they have been unsuccessful over many
decades.

Many are being renovated today to allow possible housing for up in coming events such as the World Cup and the Olympics.

People living in favelas are not in support in what the government
wants from passed experiences of them trying to demolish all of their
homes, that also are used as shops at times.

This brought up a question in the crowd as to why they wouldn’t want
them to be knocked down for a chance at better living conditions.

Zero responded with the simple word, “community,” people living there
have so much pride in what they have even though it isn’t much because
they made everything themselves and all enjoy each others company, over
all it’s one big family.

The presentation came to a close as they spoke about some plans that
have worked on giving the favelas a face lift and allowing thousands of
people to live in better housing conditions.

After their presentation was over, the floor was open to questions
which then lead to the announcement of the 2014 fellowship award.

Jesse McKay, a second year graduate student, won with his proposal on going to Amsterdam this year.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

CETA Day 2014 will be held on two different days this year—Friday, May 2, and Friday May 9.
The presentations on May 2 will be given mainly by
undergraduate students (freshmen, sophomores and seniors). Please feel
free to stop by and hear what fellow University students have been
working on.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—Senior Erik Quitzau
hurdled his way to a school record Sunday as the University of Hartford
track and field teams competed at the Yale Springtime Invitational. The
unscored meet served as the Hawks' final tune up heading into next
weekend's America East Outdoor Championship.

Quitzau, a senior
from Blackstone, Mass., broke his own school record in the 110-meter
hurdles Sunday. Crossing the line in 15.38 seconds, .03 seconds faster
than his previous school-best, Quitzau finished fourth overall in the
event.

Junior Tiffany Harrison also turned in a notable result, taking second place in the 400-meter dash. Harrison raced around the track in 57.89 seconds.

In the field, high jumpers Maggie Fuller and Lauren Bossi
took second and third place, respectively, in the event. Fuller cleared
1.55 meters to take second, while Bossi leapt over a 1.50-meter bar to
take third. The pair also faired well in the women's 110-hurdles. Fuller
crossed the line eighth in 17.54 seconds while Bossi posted a
fifth-place result with a time of 16.08.

The Hawks will be back
in action May 3-4 when they compete at the 2014 America East Outdoor
Track and Field Championship, hosted by the University of Vermont in
Burlington, Vt.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Faculty members Eoin King of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA) and Lisa Zawilinski and Toko Oshio of the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions (ENHP) have been awarded Greenberg Junior Faculty Grants.Eoin King, assistant professor of mechanical
engineering, will compare and analyze pedestrian exposure to noise and
air pollution within an urban setting for two cases: i) pedestrians
walking on a sidewalk at street level and ii) pedestrians walking on an
elevated walkway (known as the “High Line”). Along with course release
time, the grant will provide funding for travel and equipment related to
this project.Lisa Zawilinski, assistant professor of elementary education, along with Toko Oshio,
assistant professor of early childhood education, will examine the
effects of integrating technology (iPads and literacy apps) within
literacy instruction on kindergarten and first graders’ literacy
achievement. Along with course release time, the grant will provide
funding for student assistants, travel and other grant-related expenses.

The Greenberg Junior Faculty Grants are internal
grant awards intended to promote high-quality scholarship by faculty
members who are just beginning their careers. These grants are made
possible by a generous gift from Arnold and Beverly Greenberg.Source: http://www.hartford.edu/daily/announcements/2014/04/Faculty_Members_Awarded_Greenberg_Junior_Faculty_Grants.aspx

Thursday, April 17, 2014

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) will be
hosting an Exhibition of Student Work and a Beaux Arts Ball next Friday, April
25. The Student Exhibit will feature work from all grade levels within
the Department of Architecture, and the Beaux Arts Ball is our second annual
ball (dance) and will be 90s themed. Both events will take place in the
architecture studio.

Student Exhibit:

-Begins at 5pm and goes until 7pm

-Includes cocktail hour

Beaux Arts Ball:

-Begins at 7:30pm and goes until 10pm

-Features cash bar, live music, and food

The student exhibit is free, while the tickets for the Beaux Arts
Ball are $5 for non AIAS members. Tickets will be available at the
door.

Position Summary:This is a key position responsible for the
active management of programming, design and construction of large scale
institutional projects throughout Connecticut.

Essential Functions:Candidates must be familiar with the building
design and construction process. This position will require management
capabilities and the ability to work on site with clients on a regular basis.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

·
Management of projects through all phases

·
Management of projects to completion, on-time, within budget, and within scope
of work

·
Production of reports, summaries, and briefings using Microsoft Word, Excel,
and PowerPoint

·
The ability to communicate effectively in writing and orally

Required Qualifications:

·
Bachelor of Science and a strong background in the building design /
construction, architecture, and/or engineering field

·
Demonstrated ability to manage various tasks, schedules, and deliverables

·
Excellent communication skills, influencing and leading, facilitation and team
work capabilities.

Desired Qualifications:
Certified PE and/or RA

Strategic Building Solutions (SBS) is a leading provider of professional
management support services to clients. For nearly two decades, we have
partnered with institutions and organizations to create buildings that work and
operate efficiently. SBS empowers clients to get the facilities they need and
the buildings they envision by delivering technical, analytical and managerial
support. In every engagement, our approach is proactive, pragmatic, and
intensely collaborative. Our team comprises virtually all the skill sets and
professional backgrounds an organization might need to supplement its own
capabilities and ensure the success of its building related endeavors.

We are looking for leaders to join our dedicated team of professionals. With
offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York City, Washington, DC and
Pennsylvania, this rapidly growing firm offers competitive benefit, vacation,
and salary plans.

Strategic Building Solutions is committed to creating a diverse environment and
is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will
receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion,
gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin,
genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. If you have a disability and need
special accommodation to access this site, please call 860-395-0055 x185 for
assistance.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Professor Townsend's work on Excel has been featured on Debra Dalgleish from Contextures Inc.'s blog on Excel. Debra's blog is the go to site for users learning how to use Excel. The blog has examples and outlines many complicated processes that Excel offers. Professor Townsend has developed a code over the last 6 years. The code takes a list of over 3300 rows of data (the up-to-date University of Hartford's class offerings) and lets the user query the data for many varied uses.

We are very proud of all of Professor Townsend's hard work, and her work can be seen highlighted in the link below.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Brett, who is majoring in Electronic Engineering Technology,
received the “Undergraduate Student Poster Award” 2nd
Placeat the 2014 ASEE Zone 1
Conference which was held at the University of Bridgeport April 3-5. The award
is for his project “Automatic Glass Bottle Opener”, Advisor: Prof. Earl
Hasselmark.

The “ASEE Zone 1 Conference” is a conference that is held
once every four years and includes regions as far as Washington D.C., PA and
Canada. There were 49 other undergraduate student posters.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

(Hartford, CT) On Saturday, March 22nd at Central CT State
University, 119 girls and 43 parents, teachers and caregivers were inspired by
a daylong conference focusing on STEM that included hands-on workshops for
6th-9th grade girls. The conference was
one of only 9 pilot programs around the country funded by AAUW and Praxair
Foundation and the first of its kind in CT.

The conference drew girls and their parents or teachers from as
far away as Bronx, NY and included girls from Hartford, Meriden and New
Britain, as well. Additional funding
support was provided by AAUW branches and individual members, Central CT State
University, Connecticut Space Grant Consortium and CWEALF who was a partner for
this project.

Girls could partake in workshops such as K’Nex Competition and
CSI: Tech Savvy. Meanwhile, the program for adults included topics such as Role
Models Matter and Financial Preparedness.

The day included a welcome by AAUW Tech Savvy founder Tamara
Brown of Praxair raffle prize drawings and a trivia scavenger hunt at the
College & Careers Corner and an inspirational address by keynote speaker
Riva Krut , Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer, Praxair, Inc.
who taught the girls to write down their dream and check in on it regularly.

“We were thrilled to see so many girls from so many backgrounds
get so excited about science, technology, engineering and math careers” stated
Donna Haghighat, CT Tech Savvy Committee Chair and Co-President of AAUW of CT.
“We had parents who came up to us after the day and said it isn’t ‘if’ you will
do it again but ‘when’ because they found the day so beneficial.” A committee consisting of professors from
University of Hartford, AAUW and CWEALF members as well as a corps of nearly 50
volunteers ensured the day’s success.

About AAUW

AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy,
education, philanthropy, and research. Formerly known as the American Association
of University Women, AAUW is a nationwide network of more than 165,000 members
and donors, 1,000 branches, and 800college/university
partners. Since AAUW’s founding 130 years ago, its members have
examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day —
educational, social, economic, and political.

About Praxair Foundation

About CWEALF

Since 1973 CWEALF has worked to advance women's rights and
opportunities in Connecticut. To achieve this, CWEALF's work is divided into
three core programs:

Through these programs, CWEALF initiates services to educate and
empower women and girls to ensure they have the tools, knowledge and avenues to
reach their goals.

With special expertise in family law, sex discrimination in
employment and education, hate crimes and LGBT civil rights, CWEALF is
dedicated to ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and low-income
people. As one of the oldest women's rights organizations in the country,
CWEALF is a vital resource to women and policy makers in Connecticut.

The
University and Dining Services announce renovations to Commons and Hawks Nest,
as well as new meal plans to be offered for the 2014-15 year.

Dining
Services is shelling out $7 to $10 million on the project, according to Bridgett
Stapleton, the resident director for ARAMARK.

Hawks
Nest and the lower level of Commons will close on Friday, March 14 for the
semester to begin the construction process. Hawks Nest will get new modern
finishes and a fireplace will be added.

Meals
similar to the Hawks Nest menu will be available in Commons between the hours of
8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday and 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Saturday
and Sundays.

Construction
in the Commons dining hall will begin on May 15 and are due to be finished by
mid-August.

Commons
will have new design finishes to the seating and equipment and a brick oven will
be built.

There
will be more seating available to accommodate the 2,500 students served daily.
The plan also includes a private dining area available to the student
body.

Other
changes to Commons will include, students being be able to watch the chef
prepare their meals in front of them and the “back of the house” kitchen area
will be reduced to provide for a larger serving area and guest seating.

An
allergen-free zone and pantry will be built for those with special diets as well
as an expanded bakery and kosher kitchen.

Beginning
in the fall, Commons will also extend their hours to 8pm Monday through Friday
and 7 p.m. on the weekend.

The
changes to the meal plan will feature new All-Access Plans and Block Plans.
All-Access Plans give students to enter Commons as many times as they would
like, while block plans will provide students with 200 or 100 meals per
semester. Students will still have the option to pay with dining dollars
instead.

Stapleton
also said that students influenced their decision to change meal plans.

“As
a result of numerous focus groups conducted last year,” said Stapleton. “We
found that students want more flexibility with how meals are used and do not
want to waste meals they cannot eat. The block plans allow students to use the
meals when they need them.

“All-access
plans are rather new to higher education. Many schools now offer this option. It
is especially good for students transitioning to the college
lifestyle.”

A
Subway will also be built on campus, sometime this summer or next year, the date
has not yet been confirmed because of the amount of other projects being taken
on.

A
fully licensed Starbucks that will have the entire menu and allow for students
to use gift cards from chain restaurants will be installed in the library during
the summer of 2015.

Professor Hemchandra Shertukde from the ECE Department in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA) is presenting a Draft #2 of User's Guide for Distributed Photo Voltaic (DPV) Grid Transformers at the IEEE Transformer Committee Meeting in Savannah, Ga., from March 24-27, 2014. He is also the Chair of this Working Group for IEEE-TC.

This work extends the basis of Shertukde's newly published and available for purchase book, Distributed Photovoltaic Grid Transformers, by CRC Press, A Taylor and Francis Group. To purchase the book, or for more details, go to CRCPress.com or amazon.com.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Architectural historian Charles Benson will lecture on the life and work of Antoni Gaudi, the great Barcelona architect and the designer of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, on Monday, March 24, at 4 p.m. in Wilde Auditorium.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Visitors are welcome to park in Visitor Lots D and K.See the complete schedule for the spring semester Architecture Lecture Series.

The lecture series is made possible through the JCJ Architecture Endowment of the University of Hartford Department of Architecture.

Click here for instructions and a complete registration schedule for full-time undergraduate students.
Registration for graduate and part-time undergraduate students begins Friday, April 4. Graduate students and part-time undergraduates may also register by mail or fax using the form included in the General Information section of the Fall 2014 Schedule of Classes. Mail-in and fax registrations are not available to full-time undergraduates.

Students who want to register online must obtain a Registration PIN from their advisors beforehand. Students who want to register online for Summerterm classes may do so using the generic PIN: 123456.
Students with questions should contact the Student Administrative Services Center at 860.768.4999 or sasc@hartford.edu.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The ConnecticutCenter for Advanced
Technology, Inc. (CCAT) is a non-stock, tax-exempt corporation incorporated in
May 2004 and is funded under federal and state sponsored grants to develop a
national center that addresses military and civilian industrial manufacturing
needs; promotes energy planning and policy initiatives; stimulates innovation;
and enhances workforce development issues concerning technology
competitiveness.

CCAT is seeking an intern for the Advanced Manufacturing
Center (AMC).

Position Title: AMC Intern

Job Description:
The AMC Intern reports to the Director, Advanced
Manufacturing Center (AMC) and will support the AMC staff in their mission to
improve the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers. Specifically tasks to support new &
on-going projects in the AMC related to precision machining and additive
manufacturing (3D printing of metals & plastics). A primary project will be defined and the
intern will brief the CCAT staff on this project at completion.